Retainer for dental plates.



F. 2. HANSCOM. RETAINERFOR DENTAL PLATES. APPLICATION FILED JUNE 10. I 9i6.

1 ,201 1 77 Patnted Oct. 10, 1916.

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Specification-of Letters Patent.

Patented Oct. 10, 19516 Application filed June 10, 1916. Serial No. 102,888.

To all whom it may concern Be it known that I, FRANK Z. HANSCOM, a citizen of the United States, residing at Elmhurst, in the county of Dupage and State of Illinois, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Retainers for Dental Plates, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates particularly to lower plates, and means for holding or assisting in holding them in position.

The difficulty of keeping a lower plate in position is commonly understood, and this difliculty increases as the gums recede, making a shallow gum formation.

The objects of the present invention are to provide a lower plate which may be held more securely in position than the ordinary plate; to provide a dental plate with means adapted to co-act with the tongue for holding the plate in position; to provide integral or attachable projections or members inconnection with lower dental plates for holding the same in position; and in general, to provide such advantages and improvements as will appear more fully hereina-fter.

In the accompanying drawing illustrating this invention: Figure 1 is a plan view of a dental plate, showing one form of my improvement; Fig. 2 is a detail of one of the attachable lugs or projections; Fig. 3 is an enlarged cross sectional view of one side of a plate, showing the retainer attached thereto; and Fig. 4 is a similar sectional view showing the retainer formed in tegrally with the plate.

In order to assist in holding a lower dental plate in position, this invention contemplates the provision of a projection or projections which co-act with some portion of the mouth other than the gums, and preferably the tongue, for holding the plate in position. As illustrated in Figs. 1 and 3, the plate 5 is of any ordinary construction, having the usual groove 6 for engagement with the gum, this groove being shown shallow, as is necessary when there is a shallow gum formation. Two lugs or projections 7 are secured to the opposed inner be made of any suitable material, such for instance as flexible rubber, hard rubber or the like, which is commonly used for form-' ing the plates, and their outer faces 12 should fit closely against the inner wall of the plate, and perhaps be cemented thereto so as not to leave any cracks or recesses which would cause insanitary conditions.

In the modification shown in Fig. 4, the plate 13 is provided with an integrally formed ledge or projection 14 similar in all respects to the ledges or projections 7 above described. These ledges or projections may be extended as far around the inner surface of the plate as may be desirable or convenient to the wearer.

A plate constructed in accordance with my invention is used in the ordinary man ner, with the exception that the tongue tends to press down on the ledges or projections, and thereby soon acquires an additional function; namely, that of holding the plate in position. I have found in actual practice that plates made in accord ance with this invention are much more readily retained in position, and the tongue of the wearer soon becomes accustomed to holding the plates in the manner described.

Having thus described my invention, which, however, I do not wish to limit to the exact form or arrangement herein shown and described, except as specified in the following claims, what I claim and desire to secure by Letters Patent is:

1. A dental plate having two inwardly projecting rigid ledges arranged on the opposed inner surfaces of the plate, the lower faces of these ledges being arranged so as not to come in contact with the floor of the mouth, while the upper faces are arranged to be engaged by the lower surface of the sides of the tongue.

2. A rigid lug orprojection adapted to be secured to the inner side of a lower dental plate for engagement with the lower surface of the tongue, and means for securing said lug or projection to the plate.

3. A lower dental plate having rigid in tegrally formed inwardly extending ledges at the sides only thereof for engagement FRANK z. HANSCOM.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of IPatents.

Washington, D. G. 

